What the World Was Watching: Monday Night RAW – October 9, 1995

–Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are tonight’s commentary team and they are taped from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

–Clips of Shawn Michaels appearing at the Survivor Series press conference in Washington, D.C. and crying about how kids see him as a role model are shown.
–Opening Contest: Owen Hart, the British Bulldog & Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) defeat Diesel, Shawn Michaels & the Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) when the Bulldog pins Diesel after a Yokozuna leg drop at 11:51 shown:

The faces dominate the opening of the match, leading Lawler to remark that “Christopher Columbus never would have discovered the New World is he knew this was going to go on!” For the second time in a month, Waylon Mercy is shown in the aisle scouting an Undertaker match, although this time Lawler says that he is actually scouting Diesel since the two are scheduled to face off on Superstars. Dean Douglas also wanders out to take notes when Michaels finds himself in peril. That situation also leads to the spectacle of Mr. Fuji alternately waving the Japanese and British flags for two of Camp Cornette’s stars. Diesel eventually gets the hot tag and briefly showcases his offense on the Bulldog, but Owen hits Diesel in the back when he runs the ropes and the Bulldog hits the running powerslam. The Undertaker breaks up the pin, but Yokozuna takes advantage of the referee getting the Dead Man out of the ring and leg drops the WWF champion, allowing the Bulldog to get a pinfall over his In Your House opponent a few weeks before their encounter on pay-per-view. Michaels was a perfect face-in-peril for this match, keeping the heel beatdown segments interesting, and the heels winning was required so that the Bulldog had some credibility going into In Your House. The result of this match also marks the first time that Diesel has lost on television in 1995 and the first time that he has been pinned since he won the WWF title. Rating: ***½

–After the bell, King Mabel hits the ring and he and Yokozuna use their fatness to beat up the Undertaker, squashing him in the corner and leg dropping him. Douglas also gets involved to beat up Michaels, giving him an inverted suplex on the steps. And Diesel is already in bad shape after the Yokozuna leg drop but Owen and Bulldog pummel his unconscious body for the heck of it. These types of heel beatdowns were unheard of in the WWF during this period as the babyfaces usually stood tall.

–Footage of Isaac Yankem attacking Bret Hart at the end of last week’s broadcast is shown. McMahon informs us that both men will face each other in a steel cage match next week and if Lawler interferes then he will go in his own cage. The audience is then shown a good chunk of Yankem and Bret’s match at SummerSlam, with McMahon and Lawler doing new commentary.

–McMahon recaps the WWF’s benefit for underprivileged youth at Madison Square Garden during the past weekend.

–Fatu (4-2) beats Skip (w/Sunny) (8-7) after a top rope splash at 5:52:

Fatu completely dominates Skip before running his shoulder into the ring post on a blind charge and even then things are not easy for Skip as he insists on punching and elbowing Fatu in the head and hurting himself. This leads to Vince calling him an idiot. Sunny keeps Fatu from doing the top rope splash, but in a touch of irony, Fatu is too fat for Skip to do his superduperplex finish, allowing Fatu to counter and win. There was not much to this one, but both men did a good job working the crowd. And after losing so much to Barry Horowitz, Skip has become jobber fodder for the rest of the roster, losing his fourth straight match. Rating: **

–McMahon and Lawler recap the heel beatdown earlier in the show.

–Dok Hendrix says that Diesel, Shawn Michaels, and the Undertaker are irate. Hendrix says that Diesel has lost his cool, Michaels has collapsed, and the Undertaker looks like the wind has been taken out of him.

–Jim Ross interviews Jim Cornette and the British Bulldog, who is wearing a tan baseball cap. Cornette gloats that the Bulldog has beaten Diesel, which no one else has managed to do, and that the Bulldog will take advantage of his first opportunity to win the WWF title. The Bulldog adds that Winnipeg is a “hellhole.” King Mabel then joins the two to say that the Bulldog is his homie and that he also accomplished the impossible in beating down the Undertaker.

–Another recap is shown of the heel beatdown and McMahon and Lawler transition to hyping next week’s cage match between Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem.

The Last Word: The big angle on this RAW had Bill Watts fingerprints all over it. It was shocking to see three of company’s top babyfaces annihilated by the heels, especially because the heel side of the roster has been made to look weak throughout 1995. This show did a convincing sell of the Bulldog as a top challenger to Diesel by allowing him to score a pin in the six man tag, while also making fans wish to see Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker get revenge on Dean Douglas and Mabel for their sneak attacks. However, the heel beatdown would have been better served happening at the very end of the broadcast, which would have provided a much better hook for next week’s episode.